After 40 years, running became a "chore". But I still want to be "A Runner".

Yeah, that happened to me (almost 53 now). Got tired of running only, so now I am doing some days of gym and swimming instead.

Yawn.

Guess I'm not there yet after 26 years of running. I still enjoy getting out the door each day. During times of high stress at work, running becomes a needed release valve.

And I still love racing. Of course my times are slower than my PRs, but I cry no tears over that. I still love the excitement and challenge of a race as much as ever.

I have, however, decided to stay away from marathons. Anymore, I don't care to slog through 3 hour long runs or spend a month recovering from a marathon. I just want to run 5ks and 10ks every Saturday.

You think you've got it tough? Try being in the military.

Corporal punishment wrote:

You think you've got it tough? Try being in the military.

Erm.....I'm in the Military. 35 years. Discuss.

noname-6 wrote:

Yeah, that happened to me (almost 53 now). Got tired of running only, so now I am doing some days of gym and swimming instead.

Yeah....the thing about MWF is the weekends are free to do hours and hours of kid stuff, without stressing about when I will squeeze in the running sessions. Hiking, snowshoeing, tag at the playground, the pool, whatever. After 40 years that kind of thing can get tiring, especially when you get old and slow haha. Sometimes I feel that at this stage, 3x a week is as good as 6x a week. It becomes diminishing returns as you get older. If I mix in a load of other activity without stressing about the near-daily run session, it may even be better for me, runningwise.

But there comes a time when a 5:15 Mile or a 5:45 Mile don't really matter. Both are just plain slow, haha. I still love the feeling of running, but 3x a week will be satisfying and manageable.

Certainly Not Skuj wrote:

Corporal punishment wrote:

You think you've got it tough? Try being in the military.

Erm.....I'm in the Military. 35 years. Discuss.

I still love running, but find it difficult to still do any sort of meaningful training with long hours and unit PT 5 days per week. I'm out of work at 2000-2100 every night, and have to be up for PT at 0600. Gets tough after a while. I'm PCSing in a few months though, and hopefully it will be easier to train in my new job.

Mate we are all junkies, I tried racing the young guys recently, I got smashed over 3k. There was nothing I could do, my speed is just deserting me.

I can completely relate. I love running, but getting out the door is harder & harder. Two things that used to NOT bother me, now do: the cold weather & running alone. I used to be so good at running in the cold. Now, I can easily talk myself out of running all the time. Likewise, I used to be fine running by myself, but find I like running with other people more & more...but there's few opportunities to do that where I live (rural America).

So, now, I run 3 or 4 days a week (but shorter runs). I lift a couple of the other days too. I wonder if I'm just waiting for it to get a bit warmer in hopes of lengthening my runs. I think that will help.

But, I'm a bit older & I know I'm not competitive so there's no incentive to train except for overall health & fitness & quality of life. Oh well.

Not everyone on letsrun is training for the Diamond League. :-)

53 years old, been running for 23 years. I do it because it gives me a purpose it's what I do.

I hear you. I'm in my early 60's and let me explain the progression.

(1)The frequency of minor injuries, even just aches and pain increases.

(2) Your racing performance start to become very inconsistent.

(3) You start becoming both surprised and disappointed by some of your poorer running performances.

(4) You start to reduce the number of races you do.

(5) You cut back on training intensity and frequency to help recovery.

(6) You quite racing all together (you tell yourself you might start up again next year) but still intend to train.

(7) Your running/training starts to diminish in frequency and intensity.

(8) You get much slower of course.

(9) Its harder to get that get full sweat and the tension relief from the hard good run.

(10) You try to force yourself to run, you stop looking forward to it, if looks cold, you jump on the treadmill, but the treadmill is boring you quit early.

(11) You feel like a jogger.

(12) You start posting more on letsrun.

My friend that is the progression.

I don't race. I think I started on #7. Perhaps my first race is getting to #8. Yikes!

Ed Whitlock,Pete Magill,and other finely aged runners are my inspiration at 54.

At every age there are excuses not to get out the door, there's just more of them as your body ages. It's also possible to over think things as you age. Running is awfully beautiful most days depending on why you're pursuing it. If you don't love it quit! If you hate it quit! Be sure you're quitting for the right reasons.

Also, running to race and running to keep in shape are not the same. Don't let age defeat your desire to compete, there are unlimited number of running challenges that you'll be unable to accomplish.

Last but not least don't go gently into that good night.

DontGoGentle wrote:

Last but not least don't go gently into that good night.

That what you tell yourself at step 4.

Why set a Mon/Wed/Fri scedule? Why not just run when you feel like running?

If one of the things you hate is feeling like you have to run even though you don't want to, then do you think that feeling is going to go away on a rainy Wednesday or a lazy Monday?

I'm 67 and still training 5-7 days per week (about 40-60 mpw) and racing because I still love the energy of racing and running outdoors. I also live in SoCal so "cold weather running" is anything below 60 degrees, and I can count on one hand the number of days it's been under 50 degrees. I found in my mid-50s, with the aging process, that most of the time the first 10-20 minutes of a run are not going to feel very good. I usually feel stiff, awkward and generally creaky for about the first 1.5 miles of any run. I reconciled myself to the fact that it is just the price of admission to getting to that point where a run feels like it used to, even if it is a minute a mile slower. It's an individual process of finding the level of frequency and intensity that gives you what you want to get out of your running. I also have a "3-day rule" now. If I wake up and don't feel like running, then I don't run or run later in the day. However, I won't do that more than 3 days in a row because after that it get much harder to get going again. Enjoy your running. Any running is better than no running.

This (and so many of these replies) really rings a bell for me. I'm 56 and started running as a junior in HS, so right around 40 years for me, as well.

I still love the way I feel once I'm warmed up, but that takes longer these days.

I now run trails most days and still love running through the woods, but it gets easier and easier to find an excuse to skip or cut my run short.

I now absolutely dread heading out when it's cold, even though I'm usually just fine with it once I get going.

On good days I still get that feeling that I'm really cruising, only to be shocked to discover how slow I'm actually running. I now race very rarely because I just have no desire to pay an entry fee and line up to *race* when I know that I'm not in shape to run near my potential.

I now have to be obsessive about my diet and training or I quickly find myself hovering around 25+ lbs. over race weight. (And I'm not doing so good in that battle right now.)

It's now ridiculously hard to come back from any layoff from training, and it doesn't help that I gain weight like it's my job when I'm not training. I had a heart attack about a year ago (at the end of an easy run, due to hereditary risk factors - not overweight, non-smoker, very light drinker) and sustaining the motivation to fight back from that all time low fitness level has been extremely tough.

So, I don't know the answer except to say that I know where you're coming from. My "identity" is largely tied to being a runner, but I'm no longer the runner that I once was and that is very hard to deal with. I'm just trying to keep my toe in the door, do what I'm able to, keep it fun and low pressure, and hope that the pieces come back together in good time.

"What a drag it is getting old." :)

PapaB wrote:

I now race very rarely because I just have no desire to pay an entry fee and line up to *race* when I know that I'm not in shape to run near my potential.

Yeah, this is a big one for me. After decades of training for races, and going to races at 97-100% ready to race, it's very hard for me to justify going at 60-75%. I try to smile and laugh after crossing the line in 2:33 800m, but knowing that I could be ready for low 2:20 if I actually did the work, that is very frustrating now. I always felt that races should be done when you were READY to run your potential. "Fun" racing just isn't doing it for me. I can stay home and do that privately.

Sloetry in Motion wrote:

Why set a Mon/Wed/Fri scedule? Why not just run when you feel like running?

If one of the things you hate is feeling like you have to run even though you don't want to, then do you think that feeling is going to go away on a rainy Wednesday or a lazy Monday?

That's a good question. My brain is wired via specific schedules. It's too easy for me to back off when I don't set a sched. And let's be honest....3x a week on MWF is extremely modest. I'm doing what I consider to be the bare minimum to be able to still feel like a runner, to get fit enough to not be in shock on the annual PT test, to get a weekly dosage that satisfies.

MWF gives me the weekends free to not worry about running sessions. That's a big one for me, as a shiftworker, a dad to an 8yr old, a husband to a wife who likes to do long runs on weekends, etc etc.